Humankind Game by Amplitude

[Eagle Pursuit]

It appears that they use a separate tactical map for combat, based on the Polygon article, which probably means stacks of doom on the main map and 1UPT on the tactical map. Best of both worlds, really.

 

[WillowBrook]

This looks interesting. I don't really have time to add another immersive game, but I will keep an eye on this one. It should be good for everyone for Civ to have some direct competition.

 

[Krajzen]

I really hope this game succeeds and motivates Civ developers as a competition.

I especially desire non-1UPT combat system to be a success regarding AI relative capability to manage it...

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

I feel torn.

The last few years have been weird for me. The excitement of the lead up to Civ 6, the anticipation of the teasers and looking forward to the new innovations … followed by the uggh of how Civ 6 actually plays.

Then for the last few months, the dev team comments and speculation about yet another possible expansion to Civ 6, pushing out even further the timing of Civ 7. At first it was no big deal. But lately I've been wondering "would I even buy Civ 7 if it was made by the current Firaxis team?"

Now this, and the possibility of a fresh look at what drives the development of civilizations.

I've no idea if this new game will be any good or not, or if good whether it will appeal to me or not. I'm cautiously looking forward to learning more.

Leaving me feeling somewhat optimistic that I now have something to look forward to over the remainder of 2019 that will hold my interest more than speculation about Civ 6 patches or a new Civ 6 expansion.

And yet I also feel sad. I've been a Civ - fan for so long, I really wish I was looking forward to hearing more about the development of the Civ franchise. And following Humankind is just going to continually remind me of that.

 

[DWilson]

I'm not sure I like the sound of switching between Egypt to Khmer to England. I will keep a skeptical eye open, but probably not pre-order like I do for games that excite me.

 

[Caprikel]

Yeah, it wouldn't feel very immersive to suddenly switch between completely different cultures from completely different parts of the world with completely different ethnicities.
Will all my buildings suddenly change style to the new culture? Will all my combat units suddenly change ethnicity?
I guess I'll have to wait to see what they do with this civ changing system.

 

[Icicle]

But lately I've been wondering "would I even buy Civ 7 if it was made by the current Firaxis team?"

Fair question. Probably one that would get a no from me if I'm being honest.

I think the idea of building a civ the way you like as opposed to being trapped in the identity from day one no matter how your game plays out is a breath of fresh air and I'll definitely be following this. I hope it's good, competition is good for us.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

So, I read a bunch of articles, viewed the screenshots and the video and here's a small compendium of what I saw:

60 civs (10 per age X 6 ages, with an art style, city lists, and unique abilities, it seems that some or all have unique units and/or infrastructure)
Hittites
Egyptian - Can build pyramids(exclusively or just better at building?) and has chariots (exclusively or just better at building?), more benefits from rivers
Olmec
Babylonians
Assyrians
Harappans
Roman - efficient roads, early industry, Legions
Greeks - Phalanx (maybe unique?)
Chinese
Nubians - inferred from screenshot, city named Kerma had Nubian Pyramids
Vikings
France
Khmer
Germans

Units:
Chariots (maybe unique to Egypt)
Legions (for Rome)
Phalanx (for Greece only?)
War Elephants
Horsemen
Archers
Spearmen
Warriors

Wonders:
Notre Dame
Ankor Wat
Pyramids
Forbidden City
Hanging Gardens
University of Sankore
Some kind of East Asian structure that looked like a Pagoda shaped like a Pyramid

Misc:
multiple levels of terrain
Mt. Vesuvius
Dolomen Tomb (Celts or a wonder perhaps?)
Ziggurat
A cave?
there's a tech tree
castles on high ground
city walls
tactical map for combat
Nubian Pyramids
actual historical events (not sure what this means)
historical people (Great People?)
Your Neolithic Tribe can pick 1 of 3 Wisdoms (one for better Combat, one for better Food, and one for better Industry)
Steam has it tagged for both multiplayer and online multiplayer
maybe city-states?

Not sure about:
If the map is regional or a whole world
governments?

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

Yeah, it wouldn't feel very immersive to suddenly switch between completely different cultures from completely different parts of the world with completely different ethnicities.
Will all my buildings suddenly change style to the new culture? Will all my combat units suddenly change ethnicity?
I guess I'll have to wait to see what they do with this civ changing system.

It's far too early to tell for sure, but this article describes a bit of the process:

https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/19/2...-windows-pc-release-date-preview-civilization

It sounds to me like what they are aiming at is not to have you play as Egypt, America, etc., but rather at the beginning of each age to select a set of traits that are based on a leading civ from that era. Those traits carry forward to future ages, when you add other traits, again based on a historical civ. But you aren't those specific civs. You're your own civ, developing along it's own path.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

It's far too early to tell for sure, but this article describes a bit of the process:

https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/19/2...-windows-pc-release-date-preview-civilization

It sounds to me like what they are aiming at is not to have you play as Egypt, America, etc., but rather at the beginning of each age to select a set of traits that are based on a leading civ from that era. Those traits carry forward to future ages, when you add other traits, again based on a historical civ. But you aren't those specific civs. You're your own civ, developing along it's own path.

That seems to be the case, but you also get city art, city names, and possibly unique units and infrastructure from those civs which are actually sets of traits. So you could found Thebes in one age and Neopolis the next, and Dusseldorf in the third age.

It kind of makes sense, because no real civilization lasted all ~6,000 years of recorded history. They rose and fell and the population fragmented and integrated into whatever came up next.

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

Are Sega and 2K/Firaxis connected companies?

Nah! The two are hardcore competing corporates.

Something interesting I noticed while watching the trailer — inside the hexes are square grids, giving a distinctive look to their city layouts.

View attachment 533124

Their sprawling city looks much bigger. In game terms they might use similar features to either Heroes of Might and Magic series or the latest Total War engines with settlers added to the mix.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

So, I read a bunch of articles, viewed the screenshots and the video and here's a small compendium of what I saw:

60 civs (10 per age X 6 ages, with an art style, city lists, and unique abilities, it seems that some or all have unique units and/or infrastructure)
Hittites
Egyptian - Can build pyramids(exclusively or just better at building?) and has chariots (exclusively or just better at building?), more benefits from rivers
Olmec
Babylonians
Assyrians
Harappans
Roman - efficient roads, early industry, Legions
Greeks - Phalanx (maybe unique?)
Chinese
Nubians - inferred from screenshot, city named Kerma had Nubian Pyramids
Vikings
France
Khmer
Germans

Units:
Chariots (maybe unique to Egypt)
Legions (for Rome)
Phalanx (for Greece only?)
War Elephants
Horsemen
Archers
Spearmen
Warriors

Wonders:
Notre Dame
Ankor Wat
Pyramids
Forbidden City
Hanging Gardens
University of Sankore
Some kind of East Asian structure that looked like a Pagoda shaped like a Pyramid

Misc:
multiple levels of terrain
Mt. Vesuvius
Dolomen Tomb (Celts or a wonder perhaps?)
Ziggurat
A cave?
there's a tech tree
castles on high ground
city walls
tactical map for combat
Nubian Pyramids
actual historical events (not sure what this means)
historical people (Great People?)

Not sure about:
If the map is regional or a whole world
governments?

Great list. Per this article (https://wccftech.com/humankind-gamescom-sega-endless-space/) you could add:

• "make great scientific discoveries" - sounds like something more than researching a tech, but maybe this is just marketing-speak for researching techs
• "Call upon your allies to help you in times of need and transform an epic battle into a full-scale multiplayer world war!" - not sure whether this plays out on the tactical map, i.e. fielding allied forces, or just on the strategic map
• "Fame is a new and unifying victory condition … The player with the most fame will win the game."

And from this article (https://www.neowin.net/news/sega-announces-humankind-a-new-civ-like-historical-strategy-game/):

• "diplomacy" - but what form?
• "trade" - again, in what form?
• "multiplayer support"

 

[Caprikel]

So basically it's kind of like how in Civ games where we can have a Civilization with World Wonders from various different cultures, but instead this concept applies to basically every aspect of you civilization.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

So basically it's kind of like how in Civ games where we can have a Civilization with World Wonders from various different cultures, but instead this concept applies to basically every aspect of you civilization.

It would seem so. It's not clear though if more than one player can pick the Egyptians trait set at the same time or not.

 

[Imaus]

It would seem so. It's not clear though if more than one player can pick the Egyptians trait set at the same time or not.

Nubians and Greeks basically did with some overlap. It's the whole -sphere thing. There was a Kemetosphere; a Sumersphere, then a Hellenosphere...maybe even a Celtosphere of sorts; all while Rome was a village.

 

[tedhebert]

Very interesting... Can't see any negative out of FXS and CIV getting a solid competition on their own turf.

But... I'll wait and see... bought both EL and ES2, and I must say that I never spent even 25% as much time on them than on civ...

still... ES2 was much much better than EL, so we can hope !

I'm not sure what to think of the comment that battle seems to be reminiscent of X-com combat, up to 9 turns of combat... this could be fantastic, but could also easily become quite a drag. but I must admit to craving more complexity in CIV combat, so that might just be a good idea !

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

From what I read there are about 60 "civilizations" with 10 from each era.
I saw a screenshot of what it looked like you choose in the beginning between Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Hittites etc. and from then as you advance through the ages you adopt the cultures of others like possibly Rome in the Classical Era and Khmer in the Medieval and so on.

It works much more like RPG game where this time player evolved their civs on their own without counforming to strict cultural appearances. Every civs are influenced by others at their peak, one way or another, like the Romans were heavily influenced by Greeks before they develop their cultures on their own. Japanese developed their Samurai with Chinese philosophy and their versions of Buddhism, Siamese is actually a mixture of Khmers, Laotians, Irrawadians, and Srivijayans along with some Chinese and Indians. and so on.

One more thing. This game use bigger cityscapes, each provinces are bigger than in Civ and I think they made up with City alignment issues, Each provinces don't need to have City Center by its very center.

I bet the team were once Civ5 or 6 modders and became frustrated with the directions Sid Meier's Civ franchise is heading to. Particularly the 'City District' concepts did not executed properly, Unit production districts did NOT add specialized production slots (which personally i think it should!). This concept of production slot means that if you have an encampment, you can... train a military unit in the same time as a city walls. instead of putting the two into the queue and you must choose what do you want to make first (or prioritize the productions based on situations player is facing). And if you already have naval yard, you can also build a warship in the same time. If you play Total War before you will understand what it is.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I wouldn't agree that they are disgruntled Civ modders. It's more likely that it's the same team that worked on their Endless titles. They probably examined Firaxis' product and identified ways that it was deficient and designed a product to compete in this market.

 

[Haig]

And yet I also feel sad. I've been a Civ - fan for so long, I really wish I was looking forward to hearing more about the development of the Civ franchise. And following Humankind is just going to continually remind me of that.

Dude, you haven't had a single positive post about Civ 6 so I doubt you will be sad about not following the game.

 

[Gedemon]

I have no idea what's in Humankind, but with all the Civ franchise's focus on playing vague simulations of historical civilizations, it would be nice to see an alternate approach where the only asymmetrical component is starting location and then players build up their civilizations from that point on, unlocking abilities by playing the game in a certain fashion. Basically what we do for pantheons and religious beliefs now, but on a grander scale.

If Firaxis had released the DLL source with the first expansion, we'd already had a mod doing that...

OTOH I've not seen anything about modding for that new challenger, that's the selling point for me.